


Never Saw It Coming

by rejuit



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: AU, Eiffel deserves a shot at being a good dad, F/M, Family, Found Family, If it isn't obvious Hera's stutter is a nod to her glitching, Literally just an excuse for me to indulge in this specific AU I had in mind
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-09-06 19:10:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16838665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rejuit/pseuds/rejuit
Summary: Doug Eiffel is a single dad, doing his best to enjoy the normal life he leads with his daughter. His life is thrown for a loop, however, when he meets a girl named Hera... And somehow keeps running into her. Doug might just learn that taking a risk, and spilling some Chinese food, might be the best thing he's ever done. Just a self-indulgent Eiffel/Hera AU fanfic.





	1. Everything Changes

It had been a normal day. Just the everyday routine. That was when he’d met her, and then everything was far, far from normal.

That was how these things normally went, right? In all the stories and all the movies, it always started with an average day. An average person. And then something extraordinary would happen, some stroke of fate that would bring the most incredible person into the average one’s life. And they’d proceed to turn everything upside down, but in the absolute best way.  
Maybe Doug Eiffel just watched too much TV, but that was kind of how it felt. If the thought of it wasn’t so absolutely unromantic, he would have started humming the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song. But for once, he’d been left speechless.

It had been the craziest of chance encounters, but Doug seemed to be the king of crazy anymore. He’d been walking out of the local Chinese restaurant, carrying a couple of bags of carry out. He tried not to spend too much money on takeout food- no wait, that was an absolute lie. If there was anything that Doug spent his money on, it was takeout. Besides, he and Anne had decided a while back that there wasn’t too much he could manage to cook well, so it was probably best to buy food from a restaurant instead. In his defense, he’d never been taught how to cook, and college had taught him to settle for ramen and pizza. And now here he was, a single dad with a crappy-paying job as a radio DJ. So, needless to say, the tight college budget had not disappeared completely.

In any case, he’d picked up dinner for he and Anne and was walking out of the restaurant when he spotted her. The most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. At least, as far as he could recollect. There was just something about the way she carried herself, the aura she emitted…

And then Doug tripped over a crack in the sidewalk, like the complete idiot he was.

Sprawled out on the concrete, face landing in a bit of spilled lo mein, he muttered a weak, “Owww…” and letting himself sit in his soy sauce-flavored shame a moment as he tried to recollect himself. This was… not surprising, all things considered. Just his luck. Anne would probably get a good laugh out of this when he told her. One more embarrassing story to add to his collection, he supposed. Finally deciding after a moment that he couldn’t just die there on the sidewalk, he started to push himself into a sitting position when he heard a voice right above him. Doug would later describe this voice as the sweet, dulcet tones of an angel, although its owner would insist that he was being ridiculously over-dramatic about it.

“Are you okay?” Boy, it wasn’t just the voice that was lovely. As he looked up to meet her gaze, he saw the clearest blue eyes he’d ever witnessed. It was the woman he’d noticed only a moment ago, hovering over him with a worried expression. Her long, black hair was starting to slowly slide off of her shoulder as she leaned down, and her brow was furrowed in concern. Had… Had Doug died from faceplanting on the concrete?

“H-hey!” The slight edge to her tone brought him back to reality. Nope, he was very much alive and still very much looking like an idiot. “I said, are you ok-kay?”

“I…” His words stuck in his throat. “Pretty… Uh, yeah, I think I’m pretty alright, I… I just…” The full reality of the situation hitting him like a train, Doug scrambled to his feet, taking stock of the damage. His hands seemed a bit scraped up and his face hurt some, but that was about the extent to which he’d actually been hurt. The food on the other hand… Well, what wasn’t on his shirt was strewn across the sidewalk. He grimaced. Great. There went dinner… and his favorite Star Wars T-shirt. Yeesh, this was turning out ridiculously awful.

“Here…” The woman knelt down, gathering up the boxes and plastic bag, and Doug quickly joined her, attempting to scrape what food he could off of the ground so that no one else would step in it. He heard her heels click softly as she walked over to a nearby trash can to throw it all away, with Doug once again in tow.

“Thanks…” he mumbled sheepishly. “Sorry you had to see that… I promise I’m not always enemies with the sidewalk, but he really had it coming this time.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Oh, I’m sure. But you really should have c-considered the possibility of losing. After all, rock doesn’t just, just beat scissors… It also beats soft, delicate human fl-flesh.”

What… He couldn’t tell if she was being completely serious or joking. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer, either. Face red, he went to run a hand through his hair, realized it was covered in food and a little blood, and thought better of it. Instead he let his hand drop awkwardly down to his side, pressing his lips into a thin line as he wondered what to say. Before he even had a chance, though, she was moving past him, not even so much as looking back at the sorry mess he was.

_Nice, Doug. Real nice. You blew it again. ___

__At least that was what he thought, until she turned around and caught him off guard with her question. “What did you order?”_ _

__“Um…” Doug blinked. “Just… Just some lo mein? And sweet and sour chicken?” Why was he answering that like a question? That was what it had been._ _

__“Got it. Wait here a s-sec.” And just like that, she was gone. And almost just as quickly, it seemed, she returned, a fresh plastic bag in her hands, very clearly full of takeout boxes. “Here.” She held it out towards him, a soft expression on her face. “No p-point in coming and walking away em-empty-handed.”_ _

__Doug looked incredulously at the bag now in his hands, then to the woman, then back and forth one more time. “You… Really? Are you serious?”_ _

__She shrugged, a smile tugging at her lips. “Yeah, why not. People aren’t n-nice enough to each other anymore; might as well show a bit of kindness. Besides, you looked like you were having one of those days, and I can really s-sympathize with that tod-day.” Shrugging again, she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and moved to leave. “Anyway… I hope you have a better day.”_ _

__And there she was. Leaving again. He hadn’t even asked- Oh shoot! He hadn’t even asked her what her name was! Boy did Doug feel dumb today._ _

__“Wait!” He called after her. “I’m Doug, Doug Eiffel! What’s your name?” What was this, a fairytale? He sounded like the prince calling desperately after Cinderella._ _

__Against all likelihood, she looked over her shoulder, flashed him a grin, and he could have sworn he saw a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. “I’m Hera Hephaestus. It was nice to m-meet you, Eiffel.”_ _


	2. TV Trays and Little Talks

“I’m going to eat without you!” A voice carried across the small apartment, making its way down the hall and into the bathroom, waking Doug from his stupor. He’d been staring at the mirror for… He checked his phone. Fifteen minutes? Yeesh, no wonder Anne was getting impatient.

Lightly touching the scrapes on his face that he’d cleaned up, he wondered for the fifth time since coming home what kind of dreamscape he’d just experienced. A chance encounter… It had probably meant nothing to Ms. Hephaestus herself. Just another good deed to make her feel all warm and fuzzy. But… something about it had stuck with him. Maybe it was because she hadn’t laughed at him, or just that she’d taken the time to help him out.

With a sigh, he stuffed his stained clothes into the mesh hamper behind him. Whatever it had meant to him, it didn’t matter much. He’d probably never see her again anyway.

Opening the door with a click and shuffling into the living room, he smiled a bit at the sight there. Anne had already set up the TV trays and, despite her complaining, set out a plate full of food for him. She’d turned it on to one of those generic cop shows that cable stations liked to play. What a funny kid. Most twelve-year-olds probably liked to watch… what? Disney Channel maybe? Cartoons? He wasn’t sure, but he was pretty sure that most of them weren’t into Law & Order and NCIS, at least not the girls. Then again, what did he know about middle schoolers?

Doug settled down on the couch next to his daughter, her bright hazel eyes glued to the screen in front of her as she munched on a mouthful of takeout. Snapping the wooden chopsticks apart (he was always afraid of breaking them when he did that), he watched her fondly. She’d pulled her shoulder-length hair into a ponytail and dressed in pajamas, a sure sign that she was done with the day and didn’t plan on going anywhere besides bed. She looked so much like her mother… Sometimes Doug wondered if he’d accidentally just adopted a child, until he saw the faint, barely noticeable freckles spattering her cheeks and the long facial features. That was him. The dusty brown hair and small mouth, the lighter skin tone… That was all her mother. He’d always think that Anne was more beautiful than that witch, though. Neither of them missed her much, and they always dreaded Anne’s annual required visit to see her. She tended to come back with failed bribery gifts and lots of stories to complain about.

It took Doug a minute before he realized that Anne was looking at him, brows furrowed and mouth pulled into a concerned frown. Had he been staring?

“Dad? Everything okay?” she asked anxiously. “Your food is going to get cold…”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, right. Sorry, I’m okay.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, hun, it’s all good. Just thinking is all, but everything’s right as rain.”

Anne still eyed him skeptically but decided to drop it. He knew she was stubborn; she’d make sure to pester him about the scrapes and such later. Sometimes he thought she was too curious for her own good, like how she’d forced it out of him why he and Kate had split up. 

“Do anything fun while I was gone?” he piped up at the next commercial break.

His daughter shrugged, absentmindedly stirring at her food with her chopsticks. “Homework… I didn’t feel like staying up until midnight working on it all again…”

Doug wrinkled his nose. “Ew. I still think it’s ridiculous that teachers think they have to assign so much of that. You’re a kid! You should be having fun at this age, not slaving your life away on schoolwork. You’re not even in high school yet, and they think they already have to suck away your life. Soon you’ll start looking like the guys from Raiders of the Lost Ark…” Letting out a pitiful moan, he began convulsing, tossing the fortune cookies up in the air as he did so.

“Dad! Dad, you’re going to knock over your food!” Anne giggled, trying to grab ahold of his arm and force him to be still.

“What, this?” He gestured to the plate. “There’s hardly any even left!” With that, he proceeded to demonstrate, scarfing down what was left to half-hearted groans and exclamations of, “That’s disgusting!” from his offspring.

Settling back with a satisfied expression, Doug pulled out his phone. “You know what we should do?”

“Take a picture?” Everyone knew that Doug had a multitude of pictures of his daughter (along with himself sometimes) that he would not hesitate to show off for anyone who asked. It just about drove his friends crazy.

He rolled his eyes with a grin. “Nooo… But we should do that too. I was actually thinking that we should go do something fun on Saturday. I’ve got the radio show in the morning, but I could come pick you up afterwards and we could do something fun. Maybe we could ask if Minkowski wants to tag along, if you want. We could go do whatever you want to.”

She thought for a moment, chewing on her lip and then taking a slow sip of water. As she set her plastic cup down on the tray, her eyes lit up with excitement. Whipping her head around to look at him, big, hazel eyes wide, she asked, “Could we go to the planetarium?! We were going to go for my birthday, remember, but it was closed for renovations, and I really want to go!” Ahh, that was right. Doug still felt a little bad about that, but she had seemed to be at least mostly okay with going to a waterpark instead.

Mentally calculating the cost for a moment, he tried to determine if they could squeeze it into this month’s budget. There was the car payment and rent to consider, and the fact that they both were going to need to get their hair cut soon…

_Ah, screw it. _Anne deserved this. She’d been having a rough enough time, both in and out of school, and if there was one thing that Doug would never skimp on it was treating his daughter. If nothing else, he could see if Renee had heard of any odd jobs he could do to make a little extra cash. Nothing big that would take his time away from Anne and his actual job, just something to supplement this month and make things work out.__

__“Sure thing, kiddo. Get ready for Saturday; before you know it you’ll be travelling to infinity and beyond!”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know if anyone’s reading this, but I’m going to keep posting it anyway because I’m enjoying it, haha
> 
> Also wanted to note that I know in canon Anne is deaf, but I didn’t include that in this AU for two reasons:  
> 1\. The accident never happened in this AU  
> 2\. While I have a knowledge of basic sign language and know some people in the deaf community, I’d like to have more knowledge of deaf culture and the way the community works before writing a deaf character. Maybe someday if I feel like I have a better grasp on it I may include it, but as of right now I’d rather not in case of misrepresentation.
> 
> Along those same veins, if I am ever off in representing a stutter with Hera, please someone let me know what needs to be corrected! I’m always up for new learning opportunities and, although I wanted to use it to represent Hera’s glitch in her voice, I know that I may not have the best grasp on how to write a character with a stutter.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. It’s All Coming Up Ones and Zeroes

“Yes, I n-n-n-know it could be better. That’s why I’m w-working on it right now, because it’s not d-done.”

Hera gave her boss a sharp look before turning back to the coding she’d been working on. She’d poured so much time and effort into this, and all she was getting was negative feedback.

Pryce gave her a tight-lipped smile, her eyes flickering. “Have it done, Hephaestus. Tomorrow morning it had better be running smoothly and ready to implement.”

“T-t-t-t-t-t-“ Slamming a hand down on the desk in frustration, the shorter woman took a breath before trying again. “Tom-morrow morning? There’s n-no way I c-could do that; I have the appointment today to tell k-kids at that middle school about Goddard F-Futuristics’ computer s-s-science program!”

Her superior raised an eyebrow, mouth settling itself in a thin line. “Is there going to be a problem, Hephaestus? Am I going to need to talk with Cutter about finding you a replacement, or are we clear?”

She didn’t have a choice. She knew that. She never seemed to have one when she was around.

Gritting her teeth, Hera muttered, “Fine, I’ll h-have it done.”

“Good.” With that Pryce took off, the sound of heels clacking resonating through the walls long after she was out of sight.

Great. Just perfect. As if Hera didn’t already have enough to worry about today. Middle school outings weren’t exactly her forte. If she had been a people person she wouldn’t be working in computer programming. It wasn’t that she disliked kids. In fact, their curiosity was often fascinating to her. Middle schoolers seemed to ride that fence of kid and adolescent though; they were in a sort of grey area where they were either enthralled by science or found it the most boring subject ever. She had no idea what to expect and even less of an idea as to how she should handle it. And now, on top of that, she would likely have to come back to work afterwards in order to finish the coding on this program.

“That sure was a close call.”

Hera was startled out of her thinking by a cheerful voice, but softened when she saw that it was not Pryce or Cutter, but merely her coworker Maxwell, rolling over in her office chair. Maxwell was part of what made this job bearable. Maybe she wasn’t a people person, but Maxwell seemed to be, and she always seemed to be able to lift Hera’s spirits, even when she didn’t feel like talking to anyone. Like right now.

“You sure do like pushing Pryce’s boundaries, huh? You’d better be careful; someday you’re going to push a button too hard and then…” She made explosion noises, waving her arms around for added effect. They both glanced towards the door out of habit, both to make sure Pryce hadn’t heard and to check and see if a certain explosions-loving friend had been summoned by the act. It wouldn’t have been the first time he’d conveniently popped up when an explosion was mentioned.

Hera sighed. “I know… She j-just makes me s-s-s-s-s-so…”

“Mad? Yeah, I can tell. Your getting more stuck than usual.” Launching herself off from the edge of Hera’s desk, she rolled back over to her own. “You can’t let her get to you. Doing that only feeds into it. Just… take a deep breath. No, seriously, right now, with me. Breath in… and out… good, good. Now, you are Hera Hephaestus. You’re a computer genius, and you graduated from one of the top schools in the country. Whether or not what she wants is unreasonable is beside the point. The point is that you can do it. I know you can. Just get your stuff together, go get some kids all excited about computer science, grab some coffee and something to eat, and then come back and get yourself to work on it. It’s not impossible, especially when the person I’m talking to is you.” The corners of Maxwell’s mouth started to tug upwards, and she turned back to her computer, her gaze tearing away from Hera’s face. “Just something to think about.”

There were days where Hera wasn’t sure if she was glad or not that Maxwell was right. Today was one of those.

Starting to gather what she needed, Hera glanced back over at her coworker, the barest hint of a smile on her face. “Thanks.”

—————————-

“Does anyone have any questions for Ms. Hephaestus?”

The presentation had gone well overall, Hera thought. She’d shown them examples of what she did and explained some of how it worked. She felt like she’d managed to bring it down to a middle-school level… Until she saw the faces of the students when the teacher asked that. She knew that look. She’d made that look plenty of times as a student. They were bored, wondering if it was over yet. Glad for a distraction from classwork, but not engaged enough to actually ask questions or really care. Most had phones out or were doodling in their notebooks.

Amongst the sea of disinterest, a hand raised high. Probably just a kid wanting to be excused to the bathroom, having had enough of this. Hera sighed and started to gather her things, but paused when the student was called on by the teacher and started to address Hera.

“Do you like your job? What’s the best part?” The girl was staring directly at her, clearly genuinely wanting an answer. She cared about what she had to say. Maxwell would have told her, “As long as you get one kid’s attention, you’ve planted a seed.”

Taking a second to process the question, Hera nodded slowly, tucking a strand of black hair behind her ear as she set down what was in her arms. “I do… It c-can be hard, but I don’t think I’d w-w-want to do anything else. I think… I think what I like best is h-how programming isn’t just a bunch of typ-ping. It’s kind of like… like I’m talking to the computer. Kind of a c-conversation. L-like a f-friend.”

The young lady smiled at that answer, as if it hadn’t been something she’d expected. “That’s so cool.” Her smile faltered as she thought for a moment. “Is there a lot of math involved in computer programming? Or even just in astronautics in general?”

A valid question. It was honestly one that most people didn’t think about at first, and what drove a lot of people away from the job. Although she logically understood that it was in fact necessary, she hated that it ended up becoming a dealbreaker for those who struggled with the subject, people with a genuine love for space who just wanted to explore.

“...I won’t lie, there r-really is,” Hera began hesitantly, not wanting to crush the dreams of this child. As she expected, the girl’s face started to fall, so Hera quickly pressed on. “B-b-but there is so much more to it th-than math. Not all of i-it is th-th-that, and there are lots of-of scientists and such who had a hard time with it. I think… I think if y-you really want something h-h-hard enough, y-you can do it.”

She seemed comforted by that. Good. Something about the young lady struck her… most likely her bright-eyed curiosity and eagerness. Determined to encourage this girl now, Hera caught her afterwards, handing her a piece of scrap paper with her number on it and telling her that if she ever needed help with math to let her know. Adults acted too far above things sometimes. She remembered having a hard time herself growing up… Maybe she just didn’t get out enough, but she wanted to do _something _to help. Besides, her only other consistent plans aside from work we’re feeding her cat… not exactly the most thrilling pastime.__

__As she gratefully accepted the offer, the girl gave her a bright smile. “I’m Anne Eiffel, by the way. I really appreciate it; my dad’s no good at math either and I don’t really have anyone else I can ask about it.”_ _

__“It’s no p-problem, really,” Hera insisted with a shake of her head. Eiffel… Where had she heard that name before?_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to get around to this! Not totally satisfied with it? But oh well. Glad to get to write more with Hera, and it’s a longer chapter this time! I thought about splitting up the scenes into separate chapters, but I didn’t have too much going on for the classroom scene so I thought it would work best as just one chapter. Kudos and comments are always appreciated!


	4. Coffee Talks

It was a little chilly. Honestly, Doug wished they could sit inside, but Minkowski was always sweaty from her jog and liked to cool off in the fresh air. So, never one to deprive her of what she wanted (out of fear? Out of comradery? Who could say), Doug tended to consent and find a table for them outside. That was their routine. Every Thursday morning, after Doug finished his radio show and Minkowski… Renee? Minkowski? He’d known her for forever, but still tended to fall into the old habit of calling her by her last name. Thankfully, she did the same, a habit left over from high school. In any case, once she’d finished her jog, they would meet for coffee. First she would catch him up on what was new in the Minkowski-Koudelka household, then she would set a timer and let Doug talk. The timer was necessary because she apparently couldn’t appreciate his great talent for expelling air at an alarming rate. In other words, he talked too much for how much time she had in a day.

And here they were, the two of them in their little Fellowship of the Ring meeting, Minkowski looking about as intense as Elrond himself as she yammered on about how Dominik’s business was sending him off to a conference today in New York or something. A trip sounded nice, Doug thought. It had been a long time since he’d been able to take Anne on a vacation…

Having zoned out of what she was actually talking about at this point and eager to change the subject, Doug interjected when she paused to take a sip of her coffee.

“Sooo, you’re still directing that play for the local theater, right? Isn’t it some Shakespeare one, like Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet or something?”

Minkowski wrinkled her freckled nose in that obvious, “Seriously, Eiffel?” look. “Way off. We’re doing The King and I.”

“Oh.” Doug’s mouth pressed into a line, obviously embarrassed at his lack of attention to what was going on with his friend. He’d really been trying to get better about being both attentive and sensitive in regards to others. It was something Minkowski had always gotten on him about. “Weren’t you trying to get Anne to be in that?” He smirked knowingly. “From the lack of a script in my daughter’s hands, I’m assuming that hasn’t happened?”

With a sigh, she rolled her eyes. “Unfortunately, no. Despite my best efforts, she’s continually refused to audition. Oh well. She hasn’t quite taken after her father’s long-winded loudness, anyway.” Interrupting her friend’s offended exclamation, she added, “Although she does seem at least somewhat interested in helping with tech, so we’ll see if that ends up playing out.”

“Speaking of Anne…” Doug raised his eyebrows questioningly, and Minkowski pulled out her phone in response.

“Yes, Eiffel, it is your turn to talk. Here, I’ve set the timer.” Showing him her phone screen, she sat the phone down on the table and folded her hands in front of her expectantly. “Make sure to stick to it though; I’ve got to drop by the store for costume supplies before I take Dominik to the airport.”

Doug took a deep breath, then dove headlong into it, wanting to fit as much as he could into his time period. “Okay, so Anne is having issues in school… I don’t know why she’s having so much trouble making friends; she’s a great kid. I don’t think she’s weird enough for it to be that, and it’s not like she’s mean or anything. Maybe it’s that she’s too nice? I’m not sure. Maybe her honesty and her ability to see through people is what’s driving them away, or her passion for crime shows… Who knows. What do I know about middle schoolers? She’s doing pretty good academically, except math is kicking her butt. Doesn’t surprise me much; math isn’t my strong suit either.” He received a snort of agreement from Minkowski. He’d copied her homework far too many times in high school.

“But, but apparently she’s got a tutor now. I mentioned that she should ask the school about it before, but from what she’s told me this lady isn’t from the school. I guess she’s some sort of scientist? Does stuff with computers or something, I don’t know. I have no idea how she got some genius as a tutor, but hopefully that means she’ll be able to get her grades up. I mean, you know me, I couldn’t care less how her grades look; I sucked plenty when I was her age. I just want her to do her best. But I know her, and she gets on herself when she’s not doing well in school, whether or not it’s her fault. I tried to tell her we all have our weaknesses, but she’s dead set on improving, and I can’t say I’m not impressed by her determination. And then on top of everything Kate is complaining about child support and how if she’s going to help support Anne she should be allowed to see her more often. I mean, I mostly just ignore her messages since it’s usually a bunch of ‘blah blah blah tell Anne to call me blah blah blah how dare you turn her against me,’ but I don’t know, Minkowski…” His gaze and voice dropped as he took on a more serious tone. “I’m… I’m afraid she’s actually going to try something. I think she might push for 50/50 custody… at least. And with my financial situation looking the way it is and Anne struggling in school, I’m not so sure she’d lose.”

Leaning forward, Minkowski frowned, eyebrows drawn together in concern. “Are you sure? Do you really think she could convince them?”

Doug snorted. “That silver-tongued Godzilla ex? I think she could convince a vegan to eat raw meat, and make them believe it wasn’t from an animal to boot.” He ran a hand through his hair, using the other to turn his coffee cup anxiously. “I’m on thin ice. The only saving grace I have right now is that Anne wants to be with me. She knows what Kate did, got it out of me so quickly after we separated, and I’m pretty sure she still holds it against her. Not to mention that Kate treats her like a little kid and doesn’t know her interests at all. She never takes the time to get to know Anne, just sees her as a generic little girl without feelings or thoughts of her own. The only way that I can see this working on our favor is if Anne’s voice is heard in the matter.”

“Well then, I guess that’s all you can hope for.” Minkowski sighed, tapping the tabletop with a fingernail. “I hope things don’t come to that. You don’t need that right now, and neither does Anne.” She looked Doug in the eye, fixing him with one of those serious expressions she managed so well. “If you need anything, anything at all, you know that Dominik and I are here for you, Eiffel.”

She was right of course. He hated to think those words, but she was always right. It was a little annoying. And he really didn’t like having to ask for help. Everyone had already helped so much over the years. But if he ever needed to, he really was grateful that he had people backing him up. His own little Rebel fleet, ready to fight the big, bad Darth Kate.

Laughing a little at the mental image, Doug shrugged and leaned back in his seat. “I guess right now I just have to tackle this first assignment: Anne’s tutoring session. Need to make sure I’m not letting my daughter get taught by some psycho. For all I know this lady is some serial killer.”

Minkowski rolled her eyes. “I doubt it. In any case, it is a good idea to meet her first, so make sure to at least go a little early to have a chance to talk to her, okay?”

It was Doug’s turn to roll his eyes. “Okay, _mom _.”__

__He narrowly avoided getting coffee splashed on him as he laughed in the face of Minkowski's frustration._ _

__“Get out of here, Eiffel. Your time is up and I have tassels to buy.”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting late because of the holidays! Hope you all had a merry Christmas! Sorry for the uninventive title haha, couldn’t think of anything good. As usual, leaving your thoughts in the comments is always appreciated, as are follows and kudos! Have a happy New Year!


	5. Tutor Time

Doug was tired and very ready to go home and take a nap, but Anne had to meet up with her tutor. And he was by no means going to leave his daughter with some stranger for a couple of hours. 

They’d decided to meet up at the library (one of the most boring places in the world, in Doug’s opinion), since it was relatively convenient distance-wise and nice and quiet. Too quiet. Doug had gotten very excited over finding some comics and graphic novels and may or may not have been shushed after loudly proclaiming his discovery to his daughter. Both the Anne and the librarian had done the shushing.

So now Doug was resigned to being sprawled out on a beanbag in the teen section of the library, flipping through an issue of Ultimate Comics Spider-Man while Anne perused an astronomy book. She was so taken with the whole space thing; Star Wars and Star Trek has always been favorites of hers.

Speaking of which, he realized he needed to get the tickets for the planetarium. Better to get them now than to wait and find out that the spots for that night’s showing were full. How many did he need? One for himself, one for Anne, one for Minkowski… Was that it? Dominik had flown out that day, so he probably wouldn’t be back yet. And Isabel was still off leading some flight training, wasn’t she? Three would be enough, wouldn’t it?  
His thoughts were interrupted as he heard Anne quietly exclaim, “Hi! It’s good to see you again!” What a little adult, so polite. “This is my dad, Doug Eiffel.”

“D-Doug, huh?”

Doug lowered the comic enough to look over it. It was a good thing he wasn’t sitting in an actual chair, he thought, or he might have fallen out of it at that moment…

Because his daughter’s tutor was Ms. Hephaestus. His very own Roma Downey angel. A “Dios mío” died in Doug’s throat before he could even get it out, and he tried to stop gaping long enough to manage to wave at her. How was it so hard to talk to this woman?!

“Um… Hey there…” he finally choked out sheepishly, staring up at her from the floor in persistent disbelief.

Geez Louise, she was grinning at him. In a rather amused fashion, to boot. He didn’t know if that was a good or a bad thing. Now that he had a good chance to really look at her, she was a smaller woman, but she looked like she could take on Apollo Creed with her wit, charm, and a bit of pepper spray. He didn’t know much about her- scratch that, anything about her- but she seemed fantastic from what he had seen.

Clearing his throat, Doug rubbed the back of his neck. “So… funny running into you here… what a… what a crazy coincidence, huh?”

“More st-trange than funny, b-but yes,” she replied, an eyebrow quirked.

Anne glanced back and forth between them, confused, and it was at that moment that Doug remembered he had never told her what had happened with the Chinese food. How had she let him go the entire week without pulling it out of him by force? It was a miracle, honestly.

Giving her an awkward shrug, Doug mouthed, “I’ll tell you later,” to Anne before turning back to address Hera again, this time with a bit more composure as he started to pull himself together.  
“Aaaanyway, don’t want to keep you two from studying, but it was nice to meet you again, Ms. Hephaestus.”

“Hera. Hera is f-fine.” The woman’s smirk softened into an actual smile. “And s-same goes for you, Mr. Eiffel.”

Doug waved a hand, grinning now. “Doug, please. Mr. Eiffel was my father. I mean, he is my father still, but… yeah. Doug is good.” Oh… she smiled a little at that. Wow. Usually the most he got with his jokes was an eye roll and a groan, but he’d seen the corners of her mouth go up for just a second. Maybe he wasn’t completely hopeless…

Leaving the girls to get to work, Doug turned his attention back to his comic. Still, he found that he couldn’t stay focused for long, frequently glancing up to watch them. Anne seemed to really like her. That was good. He wondered what Hera was really like. The comments she occasionally made seemed to imply she was a bit out of touch, but it wasn’t as if she was cold, not like the military doctor he’d used to work with in the Air Force.

Hera frowned. “Mr. Doug-“

“Just Doug is cool. No need for formality.”

“D-Doug, do you mind?”

“Hm?”

“Do you n-n-need something? We’re t-trying to f-focus…”

Anne mouthed and motioned to Doug, “You’re staring, Dad.” A wicked grin crossed her face and she wiggled her eyebrows. Hey, he had taught her that! How dare she use his own teachings against him!

“Ah… Nope, everything is just fine, just… spacing out. Sorry.”

Hera just sort of shrugged and turned back to the book while Anne winked at Doug. WHAT. His own daughter, turning against him to tease him! He had indeed taught her well. Still, he stuck out his tongue at her in retaliation. That would hopefully be the end of it, aside from her poking fun at him in the car and demanding to know what had happened.

At least, that was what Doug thought would happen.

He thought wrong.

This was why Doug was a pessimist. You didn’t get surprised by unfortunate turns of events when you didn’t expect things to go well in the first place.

As they were packing up their things to go (Doug was still perusing the graphic novels and considering checking one out), he heard Anne pipe up, just loud enough to make sure that he heard, “I know you probably see a lot of them, since you work at Goddard and all, but do you like the stars? We’re going to the planetarium on Saturday. You should come with us!”

If they had been at home, Doug might have tackled her and wrapped her up in a blanket so that she couldn’t say anything else. What an idea! His daughter trying to set up some sort of arranged marriage. You would have thought he’d been going around singing that “Matchmaker” song he’d heard in that one movie Minkowski had shown him, the one about the Jewish family… Yeah! It was like she though he was one of those daughters or something. It seemed kind of lame for a guy to have his daughter have to set him up anyway.

Thankfully, Hera shook her head, her body language stiffening a bit uncomfortably. “N-no thanks, I w-wouldn’t want to imp-pose on your f-f-family time, and I’m busy anyw-way.” Good, good. Doug didn’t have anything to worry about now. He could take his own sweet time finding the right way to ask her out, and possibly procrastinate too long and then-

“Busy with what?”

That stopped Hera in her tracks, and she simply stared at Anne for a moment, the younger girl defiantly eyeing her. She looked her over for a moment, considering the question. Had she been lying? Well, it wasn’t like Doug didn’t do that sometimes when he wanted an excuse to get out of plans with someone…

“I... I’m… My cat…” Cat?

“See?” Anne took her hand and gazed at her pleadingly. “We don’t mind, I promise. And besides, you could meet my Aunt Minkowski! She’s really cool. I’m sure it’ll be okay. Right, Dad?”

Oh, no. She was giving him the puppy dog eyes. Those big, hazel eyes… She made it so hard to say no. And from the way Hera was acting, it seemed like she could use some more friends anyway… He mentally kicked himself for getting roped into this situation.

Relenting, Doug nodded, shooting Hera a genuine smile in an attempt to ease her nerves. “Yeah, the more the merrier.”

Looking back and forth between father and daughter, Hera sighed and nodded. “Okay, ok-kay. I’ll g-go.”

Well. That was happening, Doug thought as he watched his daughter cheer (in a quiet manner of course; they were still in the library). Seemed he was going to need to get one more ticket after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo!  
> Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve updated. Between the holidays and school starting back up it got a bit delayed, and even without that this chapter seemed... harder to write for some reason? I dunno why
> 
> Sorry if Hera seems a bit OOC in this chapter? Still figuring out how to write as her, especially in her initial stages of meeting Doug. Maybe it’s just me, but hopefully I’ll get better as time goes on! Who knows! Anywho, enjoy!


	6. Anxious Comtemplation

_Flip, flip, flip. _Country, pop, metal, throwbacks. The radio stations in the car continued to be frantically flipped through, never resting on one for a full song.__

__“Hey!”_ _

__Doug glanced over to where his daughter sat in the passenger seat, arms crossed and lips pursed._ _

__“I really liked that song, and you skipped it!”_ _

__“Tough luck, kiddo,” he muttered, bopping her on top of her head and receiving a huff in return as she slid the hood of her jacket up. With a sigh, he added, “Hey, with the way I am right now, it’s either this or leg bouncing, and I don’t exactly think the latter is safe when I’m driving a car.”_ _

__Anne continued to watch him for a moment before patiently moving his hand away from the radio tuner and turning it on to a station to leave it at. Taking the hand she’d moved, she laced her small, slender fingers in between his and leaned her head on his arm. It was all too easy to simply pout over something stupid, but she was more concerned about him._ _

__Voice quiet, Anne cautiously asked, “Are you mad at me for inviting Ms. Hera? I’m sorry, I know I probably should have asked you first…”_ _

__“It’s fine, really, hun.” Doug sighed a little. “Just… I don’t know…”_ _

__“Nervous? Why? Because she’s nice? And cute? Because you haven’t dated anyone since Mom?”_ _

__“Wait- hang on-!” Face flushed, he shook his head a little. “I think you’re jumping to conclusions there…”_ _

__“Dad.” He didn’t have to look at her to know the look she was giving him. It was that “really? I’m not dumb” look that he was sure she’d picked up from Minkowski. Part of him thought it looked like Kate, but he didn’t like that idea. “Come on. I was there; I saw the way you looked at her! Besides, if you’re worried about me, don’t be. I’m going off to college someday, and then I’ll be sad because you’re all alone. You should really at least _try _to give dating another chance, and she seems like a nice person to start with. And, ya know, maybe end with too, who knows.”___ _

____She was right, of course. He’d been so caught up taking care of Anne for such a long time that he’d never gotten back into dating, and his experience with Kate had sort of soured his desire to jump into a relationship any time soon anyway. Still… the thought sort of scared him. Not because of Anne. He knew she’d be fine if he got into a relationship; she was the one pushing him to seek it out again. Hera just seemed so… out of his league. She was some “Uptown Girl,” and he was a lonely radio DJ. Seemed like something out of a romance novel or series. Those things rarely worked out in reality, he had found._ _ _ _

____But then again, Anne really wanted this for him. Glancing down at her resting on his shoulder, he realized that she had a hole in her life. And it wasn’t that she was lacking for women role models, by any means. She had Minkowski and Isabel, and even as her tutor she had Hera. Still… nothing could replace a mother. His heart clenched at the thought. His own has passed away when Anne was still small, unable to fully comprehend the situation. He wasn’t seeking Hera out as a mother for Anne. That wasn’t his intention at all. But now the thought of it was a push he didn’t know he’d needed towards dropping his insecurities and just living life to the fullest. So what if he didn’t have a shot with Hera? The worst thing that could happen was that she would turn him down and humiliate him and ruin his life and reputation with her intellect and connections. (Connections? Who exactly did he think she was, the President?)_ _ _ _

____Even then, she’d shown herself not to be that kind of person the day she’d helped him. She could have laughed at him right then and there, but instead she’d been so gracious in helping him to restore his dignity. Even if she'd made that weird comment about rock beating delicate flesh or whatever. But that was more her trying to play off of his own idiotic comment anyway… His mind was drifting off of the subject. The point being, he needed to start living at some point, or he’d always just be a single dad, eating takeout and DJing an early shift at a radio station. He needed some adventure, and this was the first big opportunity that had come along since Minkowski and Isabel had invited him to join the Air Force with them. Besides, this seemed much safer, at least physically._ _ _ _

____Doug didn’t get to think about it any more after that, because he realized they’d arrived at the planetarium. Yikes, that whole driving-but-not-registering-hardly-any-of-the-drive thing sure was scary. He needed to pay better attention; he didn’t know what he’d have done if he’d caused a car crash with Anne in the car._ _ _ _

____Anne started to dash ahead towards the entrance, Doug following behind and only slightly more positive than he’d been earlier. Jeez, he did _not _need his pessimistic attitude right now; he needed his “just go for it” attitude.___ _ _ _

______Realizing that her dad still seemed a bit preoccupied, Anne slowed down, waiting for him at the door. He looked up with a start as she patted his back. Boy was he a mess. He probably relied on her way more than he should. Doug flashed her a grateful smile and ruffled her hair._ _ _ _ _ _

______“We just gonna stand outside like a couple of vagrants all day, or do you want to do see the stars and stuff?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______He treasured the giggle she let out. “Stars and stuff? Yeah, let’s go inside.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______As soon as they walked in, he spotted the unmistakable freckled form of Minkowski waiting by the ticket area, face locked in its typical scowl and lit up by the phone she was looking at. He wondered if it was just her resting face or if something had come up. If he had to give her a dwarf name that wasn’t “Bossy,” it would probably have been “Grumpy.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Anne must have seen her too, because she once again picked up her speed. Not even looking up from her phone, Minkowski caught Anne in a one-armed hug, pulling her in for a kiss on the forehead._ _ _ _ _ _

______As he made his way over, Doug shook his head. “I still don’t know how you do that… how do you even know someone’s coming without looking?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Minkowski raised an eyebrow at him. “Reflexes and peripheral vision, Eiffel.” Shoving the phone in her pocket, she fondly brushed some hair back from Anne’s face, the girl still clinging to her. “And how’s the best girl in the world?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Good now!” Anne beamed. “I’m so glad we’re finally here! And I’m glad you could come, Aunt Renee. When does Uncle Dom get back in town?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______The scowl returned to Minkowski’s face. “Who knows now. The business trip was only supposed to last a few days, but now they’re wanting to fly him out straight from there to cover a story in Columbia… So it might be at least another week.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Doug whistled. “Well that’s a bit far, yeah. You’ll have to tell him to give my mom’s family out there a hello for me, and then get back here so that we can have another game night soon.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“He’s already scheming to pop in on them because he’ll be in that area, don’t worry.” She grinned. “They’re going to start thinking they should ditch you and adopt him instead. He’d probably make for a better grandson anyway.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Placing a hand over his heart, Doug shook his head in mock solemnity. “Wounded. I’m truly wounded.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______He’d been about to poke more fun about it, particularly at how that would mean that his daughter would be disowned too, but he was interrupted as Anne waved her arms in the universal “over here” motion. Ah, the angel herself must have arrived._ _ _ _ _ _

______Sure enough, he turned his attention to the direction of the entrance and there she was, breathtaking as ever. He’d only ever seen her in formal clothes, it seemed, so it was a bit strange to see her dressed casually. Still, casual was relative. She still looked really nice somehow, while he himself seemed to have the fashion sense of a hobo with one pair of clothes to his name._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Ms. Hera!” Anne ran up to give her a hug, resulting in Hera looking a bit uncomfortable for a moment before awkwardly patting her back. “I’m really glad you made it!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“W-well, I _have _b-b-been meaning to come ch-check this place out,” she remarked, looking more at ease once Anne had let go of her.___ _ _ _ _ _

________Realizing that he should be the one to politely introduce people, Doug clapped his hands together to garner attention. “Good to see you again, Hera.” He gestured towards the stout woman on his right. “This is my lifelong friend and pain in my rear end, Renee Minkowski.” Switching to look at his friend, he held out a hand towards the newcomer. “And Minkowski, this is Hera Hephaestus, Anne’s tutor and tech wiz.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Renee is fine.” Minkowski held out her hand with a smirk. “I just make him call me that to keep him in line.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Hera shook her hand with a grin. “F-fair enough. And t-tech wiz may be p-p-pushing it a bit, I’m jus-just a computer pr-programmer.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Still impressive to me.” Placing her hands on her hips, she looked around the group. “Well, we can small talk later if things get boring, but now that we’re all here, we should probably go inside before the show starts. You already bought the tickets, right, Eiffel?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Doug pulled out some folded up papers from his back pocket, waving them with a little flourish. “All printed out and ready to go, ma’am!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“What are we waiting for?” Anne beamed at them all, backing up towards the entrance as she flashed the signature Eiffel fingerguns at the group. “Let’s go!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aha.... so.... sorry about not having this out sooner, but I, am idiot, wrote this chapter.... and then forgot to post it.  
> Whoops.  
> It also just took me a bit to write for some reason, but I hope you enjoy! I’ll be working on getting the next chapter up sooner than this one did, haha!
> 
> Also, just saying, I’m really enjoying the current list I have for ideas for this fix and really wish I could show you all what it says... alas, you’ll have to wait and see ;)  
> In the meantime though, I think I’m going to be making some art for the fic soon! If you guys want to see, my Twitter is @squishypanda626!


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